This is a great retelling of the Story of Annie Oakley. Mercedes Lackey has done a great job of twisting the story It is easy to .recommend this fun story.

Unfortunately I was dissolved by this book. I typically love Mercedes Lackey books, but this one fell short for me.

I didn’t enjoy the mix of historical fiction and fantasy. I much prefer her pure fantasy books. The magic in this book was too much of a stretch for me and it also didn’t seem like this book in particular was well thought out.

I also didn’t enjoy how much more juvenile the story was compared to all her other books. Younger reader might appreciate this aspect though.

If you’re reading this review and haven’t ever read a book by Mercedes Lackey, I would recommend Arrows of the Queen. It’s a great read and powerful enjoyable writing by Mercedes Lackey.

I have been a fan of Mercedes Lackey’s “Elemental Masters” series for a long time. My favorite so far is Phoenix and Ashes, a Cinderella story where the prince is a WWI veteran with PTSD. I grabbed the latest with anticipation. Annie Oakley with Elemental Master powers? How will she use her silver bullets?

The story begins with a nightmare memory of her impoverished childhood and the malevolent nature of the couple she’s hired out to work for. I expected the man whom she calls “He-Wolf” and who plants a curse on her would loom throughout the book as the Big Bad, that her internal struggle would free herself of her fears, and that a showdown would involve silver bullets (against werewolves, according to canon). The action itself opens on a European tour of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and the introduction of Frida, a German woman sharpshooter, who happens to be an Elemental Master of Air. To no one’s surprise, not mine, both Annie and her husband have rare magical abilities, which they proceed to hone by studying with Frida and her husband. During the winter, they join in the hunt for nasty supernatural creatures, and Annie’s superb marksmanship and magical abilities prove an asset.

Most of the story reads like a leisurely travelogue of Europe, with details of places they travel through, the meals they eat, daily life in the show, how to take down and put up tents, their hosts in every town, and so forth, not to mention the magical exercises and mystical creatures, all lovingly laid out on page after sedate page. Characters talk at length about what is going to happen and who they are going to meet before the events themselves. Everything is so predictable that the sense of danger is minimal when it’s present at all, even during the nocturnal hunts. The confrontation with He-Wolf doesn’t come about until the very last pages, and even then, Annie is not in any real danger. She has one brief moment of childhood panic before she resolves the situation. There’s no internal struggle, no doubt of the outcome, and no remorse at what she’s done. While she was notable in negotiating with supernatural creatures during the Hunt, she never attempts to do that with the He-Wolf, which would have been a compassionate overture but also a huge step toward recovery from her childhood trauma.

The pacing, the resolution, the flat dramatic arc, and the overall sedate pace lag when compared to earlier “Elemental Masters” books. I’ve noticed that Lackey’s recent Valdemar books are written less tightly than the early ones, but they have more dramatic impact than this one. I presume that long-time fans enjoy a leisurely stroll through their favorite fantasy world. The “Elemental Masters” books are stand-alones, so the stories must be complete and engaging. I hope The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley is not a forewarning of a tedious future.

I have enjoyed the Elemental series by Mercedes Lackey. They are fun retellings of fairytales. However, this novel takes a departure from fairytales and gives a steampunk retelling of a real historical figure. Mrs. Lackey does an excellent job in capturing Annie’s spirit! Annie is a strong character who has to navigate her career in a profession that is dominated by men! I also love her romance with Frank Butler! I like how they were once lovers but became enemies! Therefore, this is a novel has everything I want in a novel-romance, a strong heroine, and action! I recommend this for fans of Girl With a Gun, My Calamity Jane, and Vengeance Road!

Mercedes Lackey continues her Elemental Masters series with an American protagonist, but in Germany. With shades of "From a High Tower" Annie "Oakley" is part of a traveling show, but she deals with some frightening memories from her past. When she discovers she has powers, things get very interesting, and soon she is in fear for her life.

A fun reimagining of history. One of the funnest parts of reading this book was reading the Wikipedia page for Annie Oakley alongside it. Much of the history is preserved, and even the werewolf connection is inspired by a couple that Oakley referred to as "the wolves."

Though this is the sixteenth book in the Elemental Masters series, it works as a standalone. This is the first Mercedes Lackey book that I have read, and it was a fine entry point to the series.

I was delighted by the vocabulary in this book. I learned many new words through reading. Lackey doesn't pull her punches here. It never feels confusing, but it does feel like you're reading an academic book.

This book is also very slow paced. This is because for large portions of the story, there aren't any real stakes. Though there is the hypothetical threat of werewolves looming, that isn't present or important to a majority of the story. Even when there is the final confrontation, it feels perfunctory.

In the end, this is a fun book with a cute married couple at its center. It has some action and a lot of love for Germany in 1901.

A video review including this book is on my Youtube channel at https://youtu.be/FyK7hcbNrvc?t=322

Fun Historical Twist



The sixteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series follows sharpshooter Annie Oakley as she tours Europe and discovers untapped powers. 

Annie Oakley has always suspected there is something "uncanny" about herself, but has never been able to put a name to it. But when Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show goes on tour through Germany, Bill temporarily hires a new sharpshooter to be part of his "World Wide Congress of Rough Riders": a woman named Giselle, who also happens to be an Elemental Master of Air. Alongside this new performer, Annie discovers that she and her husband, Frank, are not simply master marksman, but also magicians of rare ability.

As they travel and perform, Annie must use her newfound knowledge and rare skill to combat creatures of the night scattered across the countryside, who threaten both the performers and the locals. Annie's got her gun, and it's filled with silver bullets.


One of things I’ve always admired about Mercedes Lackey’s writing is the way that she creates compelling characters and long standing series that keep readers engaged. This novel is no exception. As the sixteenth novel in the Elemental Masters series, Mercedes Lackey keeps finding new twists to keep the series fresh. In this novel, she explores an actual historical figure, Annie Oakley, and finds a way to make her story fit into the magical world of the Elemental Masters. 

One of the reasons that Mercedes Lackey has created a compelling story with such a historical figure is that she mixes the truthful and accurate accounting of Annie Oakley with the magic and fiction of her world. Most of the facts surrounding Annie Oakley, her marksmanship, her journey with the show, her husband, and her family, are all true. Where it deviates is in adding the magic to those facts and that we really cannot have known Annie Oakley’s true thoughts. Mercedes Lackey creates such a skillful accounting of the character, though, that it feels accurate and realistic. 

The other compelling and fun element to the novel is the way the story weaves together magic and mythical creatures from folklore to create a magic world that is interesting and engaging. While there are slow moments, the action keeps the reader interested in Annie’s world and in the series of the Elemental Masters, illustrating characters outside of England and America. We get a feel for Germany at the time period close to World War I and we also get to see the fiction of how magic works in the area where the novel takes place. It is wonderful mix of fantasy and fact. 

If you love historical fantasy, this novel is a fun historical twist on a very real person. It is a story that will keep you reading at all hours. The story develops the world of Mercedes Lackey has created and made me want to read more of this group of characters. I can’t wait for the next novel in the Elemental Masters series. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 Masters

Well, now I'm disappointed again. First I got exasperated at Lackey's oh-so-obvious parody of Donald Trump in EYE SPY, and then the first of her "Founding of Valdemar" books, BEYOND, was so good, and now this, the next in her Elemental Masters series, about Annie Oakley on tour in Europe with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, showed such promise. It opens with a basis in truth: Annie Oakley, then Annie Moses, was farmed out as a servant to a couple who abused and starved her. In Lackey's version, the couple are actually werwolves and the Alpha Male has a sinister future planned for Annie, but with some magical help, she escapes.

Fast forward: Annie and her supportive husband, Frank Butler, are now the big stars of Buffalo Bill's show. In winter quarters in Germany, just before Christmas, Annie meets Frida, who is also a sharpshooter, but with a bow, and her American husband Jack. They are also Elemental Masters who tell Annie she has magic and so does Frank. During the course of the winter Annie and Frank begin learning magic under the tutelage of Frida and Jack, and even hunt with the supernatural Hunters on Christmas Eve. Finally, the wild west show is back on the road, but Annie must receive her final tutelage of being an Air Master to defend herself from the werwolves.

This story builds and builds with endless description of the clockwork precision of how the Wild West show travels, the beautiful castle and decor of Frida's friends Theo and Sofia (she likes Art Nouveau, which we are told endlessly), the wonderful Christmas market, etc. And there are a few exciting scenes of the Hunters hunting demons on the town streets at night. But there's finally a moment were Annie has to receive her final training and she can't get it, so she gets it in an alternative way. Then she gets kidnapped by the big bad.

The whole climax that the story has been building toward is resolved basically in four pages. What? I expected her to meet this great enemy from her childhood which we've been told is terrifying and has some hold on Annie, and that she would have to fight the enemy off for five or six chapters. There might be some physical or psychological torture involved. Instead she does a basic bit of magic that was taught to her at the beginning of her training and...whap! story over! What happened? Did Lackey get bored and just decide to end it, or reach her page limit and decide she didn't want to get rid of the descriptions, so she got rid of Annie struggling against her enemy instead? I was waiting for a big payoff and instead it was pretty much solved by a finger snap. Really disappointed.

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley is an excellent addition to the Elemental Masters series. I love that this novel took well-known characters and added a twist of magic. The characters were delightful, the pace was quick and engaging; this was an excellent adventure that begs the reader to finish it in one sitting.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

OK, I admit it - I'm a long time and devoted Mercedes Lackey fan, and I'll read anything in any of her series. I very much enjoyed getting the opportunity to read a new entry in the Elemental Masters series.

I love the idea of Annie Oakley and her husband finding that they have magical powers, and finding that the elemental masters in Europe have sought them out to train them. I particularly enjoyed focusing on an adult woman, who has already learned to manage herself in the world, now learning about magic. I think it also added to the fun of the story, because she was able very quickly to actually participate in actions with other masters in the areas they visited, instead of spending her time just training. Because of her adult experience and competence, she was able to move right in to contributing with the other masters.

As always, Mercedes Lackey gives us an enjoyable read, one that lets one escape into worlds of magic and situations of good and evil, without being unbearably grim.

I can't wait to see what comes next!

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey
This is in the Elemental Master series. Annie Oakley is married to Frank Butler and they work in the Wild Bill western show. They discover they have elemental talents and are taught by Frieda and Jack both Elemental Masters. They hunt and deal with evil supernatural creatures.
It’s interesting that the book draws a distinction between supernatural creatures that are merely being supernatural and those that are evil. It struck home for me. As a high school guidance counselor I had some law-breaking “bad” kids who for the most part were coming out of family situations that their behavior was fitting their personal norm. I also had the rare evil kid. One who reveled in hurting others for no apparent reason. Luckily the evil ones were few. Regardless, the book makes a distinction which I felt was pertinent.
Lackey has always struck me as an author who carefully crafts her characters. In this case, that was done but the accompanying action or adventure was minimal. It wasn’t plodding but close to it.
It shocks me to say that the book was average and I don’t think I’ve ever described a Mercedes Lackey book as average prior to now.

Mercedes Lackey returns to the Elemental Masters with The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley. Annie Oakley is in Germany with her husband in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. when she meets her first Elemental Masters and starts to train for her air mastery to face attack by wolf shifters from her past. Lots of color and adventure in the paranormal world.

Interesting take on the story of Annie Oakley. She ends up being an Elemental Master (not that she uses it for her sharp shooting). This book gives lots of detail about what it would have been moving the Wild West Show through Europe. The main story is Annie learning how to be an Elemental Master, dealing with the monsters of Europe and the monsters of Annie's childhood.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was granted eARC access to The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey via NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. Thank you for access! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley is the 16th installment in the Elemental Masters series, which happens to be my favourite Mercedes Lackey series, and the first I've been able to ARC review since starting my NetGalley journey. I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy and the book did not disappoint! I will say, however, that I was hoping this would be a continuation of From a High Tower (#10) which features a young woman who turns out to have air magic and ends up joining a travelling show as a sharpshooter type performer. Sounds exactly like the setup for an "Annie Oakley was an air mage" story, doesn't it? I suppose in that way this book disappointed just a little, both in that this isn't the continuation I hoped it would be and in that this now feels like a bit of a duplicate character in this world. I guess that's going to happen at some point in such a long-running series that tells a new person's story each time, though, right?

Oddly enough, however, while this book wasn't the continuation of the book I thought it might be, it does give a lot more information about an element of this world that snagged my interest in book 9, Blood Red. We learn a lot more about the hunting brotherhood of masters in Europe and how they serve the world in secret. We also learn more about paranormal wolf shifters in this version of the world, and they're definitely nothing like the furry rival of certain sparkly vampires, if you catch my drift.

I've seen some reviewers complain that this book spends too much time on days of magic lessons and days of travelling show performance, but that really is the formula of the series and part of the charm I love. Although there are some characters that make re-appearances here and there throughout the series, each book stands on its own and reading the series in order truly isn't required. By following the protagonist through every part of their journey from believing they're mundane humans to discovery of magic to mastery of it, readers entering at absolutely any point in the series can follow along without trouble. I do also feel like we learn new things about the different elementals and associated magic with each magic-learning journey, especially since the series covers magicians of all 4 elements living on multiple continents in various different times in history. Lackey hasn't run out of new things to introduce yet.

The books in this series that are more based on history than fairytales and folklore are not my favourites. I strongly prefer installments like The Fire Rose (Beauty and the Beast) and The Gates of Sleep (Sleeping Beauty,) though I also adore Reserved for the Cat and I'm not entirely sure what I'd classify that as. It was this love for the fairytale-inspired books that made me pick up Beauty and the Werewolf, which turned out to be part of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series instead and lead me to read the rest of those books. These Elemental Masters books that re-write history and focus on a real or mythical historical figure rather than a completely invented character or a fairytale protagonist always feel a little more forced than the others, and the ones that put Americana in Europe, in particular, occasionally feel a little cheesy.

With that said, this is a solid addition to my favourite Lackey series and I do think fans of Mercedes Lackey and of elemental magic flavoured fantasy in general will enjoy this ride.

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley is the 16th installment of the Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey, and it is due for release on January 11, 2022. I was given an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this title by DAW books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you DAW books!

The Elemental Masters series is a long-running fantasy series focusing on retelling fairy tales and other legends primarily in a fictionalized version of England – although, an increasing number of stories take place in other locales as the series progresses. Each book focuses on one primary character, and the stories are generally structured around the main character discovering and mastering the abilities of his or her magical element.

These people are known as Elemental Magicians and Masters, and just like with regular people, there are good Elemental Masters and those that turn to evil forces to achieve their goals. Additionally, an important distinction between good and bad Masters is that good Masters are partners with the elementals that help give them their powers while evil Masters tend to rely on coercion and entrapment of their elementals.

The story of The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley begins with a nightmare. Specifically, a nightmare that Annie Oakley has periodically throughout her life about her childhood in which she was essentially enslaved to a dangerous couple that turned out to be more monsters than people. Annie and her family are extremely poor, and when her mother can no longer care for her, Annie is sent to the county poorhouse to be contracted out to work. Unfortunately, the couple that “hires” her abuses her both physically and mentally and never pays for her work after the first few months.

So, Annie takes her chance to run away and makes her way back home. The needs of her family force her to hone her shooting skills to put food on the table. These are the very skills that lead her to become the famous Annie Oakley, star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. It is while the Wild West Show is on tour in Germany that Annie discovers she and her husband Frank have more power than either of them realize. They meet people who help them hone these new abilities, and in turn they use their newfound power to help clear the areas the show travels of evil monsters that would do the citizens ill.

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley follows Annie’s journey towards Elemental Mastery while she grapples with her past, future, and morals. She makes life-long friends and finds new strength within herself to solve problems she encounters. However, the middle 150 pages or so of the story drags with episodic story points that don’t do much to add to the plot or move any of the characters forward.

For example, throughout the story, Annie revisits the memories of her time with the couple she calls “The Wolves” because of how they behaved and their treatment of her. Even while she is learning to use magic and helping fight monsters such as Krampus she wrestles with the idea of whether it’s morally right to kill. The closer these monsters are to being human the more difficult it is for her to decide what the right thing to do should be.

It is clear that the person she called the He-Wolf is supposed to be the primary antagonist of the story since the book opens with a detailed description of the worst of Annie’s treatment at his hands. However, rather than focusing on Annie for parts of the book and changing perspective to the He-Wolf for other parts as previous books in the series have done, the He-Wolf is barely mentioned as more than a lingering worry for most of the story before suddenly appearing for the climax in the last 30 pages of the book. Previous installments took care to make the reader understand the motives of the antagonist and to really fear those characters, whereas Silver Bullets focused much more on Annie’s internal conflict with her morals and how her magic fit into her beliefs.

This decision made the middle part of the book a bit of a slog to get through. The final conflict in the book was exciting in that we finally got to see Annie use the powers of an Elemental Master, but that conflict was extremely short, predictable, and anticlimactic. Additionally, much of the story was wasted with half-hearted description of mundane days “learning magic” or working in the Wild West Show. As a reader, I never really felt that Annie had earned her magic as other characters in previous books did. I feel that Mercedes Lackey’s decision to revisit the setting of a previous book (it takes place in a similar area as From a High Tower) may have led to the story being less exciting than I anticipated.

Speaking of revisiting a setting, a character from a previous book also shows up in Silver Bullets. Or at least, I think she does. As the description from Goodreads above states, Giselle from the 10th book in the series, From a High Tower, makes an appearance to help Annie learn to control her magic. However, she has a completely different name in this book which is just inexplicable to me. Giselle’s character is described exactly as it is in From a High Tower. She has long blonde braids that she often wears either looped near her ears or wound around her head in a crown. She wears a loden green wool jacket with a split skirt dress and a matching green cap. She too is a trick shooter and sharp shooter like Annie. So, was changing her name a mistake? I’ll be sure the double check this when I get my hands on a published copy of the book, and I’ll update this review should anything change.

Finally, I feel like the setting of this story just wasn’t very interesting. It would have been more interesting to have had Annie learn about her powers while still in America. Quite frankly, I was expecting this book to be set in America after the previous installment, Jolene, took place in Tennessee coal country. It would have been so exciting to see Annie Oakley become an elemental magician with perhaps a Native American teacher (since elementals in America are different from those found in the European settings of many of the other books in the series).

Based on the synopsis and the cover art alone I was excited for this installment in the series. Silver bullets and the wolves in the background of the cover art make it clear that werewolves would be involved, and the idea of Annie Oakley as a wolf-hunter was very intriguing. Ultimately, I just felt let down and disappointed by this story even though I was able to finish reading it fairly quickly. I also wonder if Mercedes Lackey shouldn’t focus on one series at a time because I really enjoyed the first book in her new trilogy focusing on the founding of Valdemar (read my review of Beyond here). Hopefully, the next installment in the Elemental Masters will breathe new life into the series. There are still more fairy tales and legends to explore!

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley is the 16th installment of the Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey, and it is due for release on January 11, 2022. I was given an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this title by DAW books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you DAW books!

The Elemental Masters series is a long-running fantasy series focusing on retelling fairy tales and other legends primarily in a fictionalized version of England – although, an increasing number of stories take place in other locales as the series progresses. Each book focuses on one primary character, and the stories are generally structured around the main character discovering and mastering the abilities of his or her magical element.

These people are known as Elemental Magicians and Masters, and just like with regular people, there are good Elemental Masters and those that turn to evil forces to achieve their goals. Additionally, an important distinction between good and bad Masters is that good Masters are partners with the elementals that help give them their powers while evil Masters tend to rely on coercion and entrapment of their elementals.

The story of The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley begins with a nightmare. Specifically, a nightmare that Annie Oakley has periodically throughout her life about her childhood in which she was essentially enslaved to a dangerous couple that turned out to be more monsters than people. Annie and her family are extremely poor, and when her mother can no longer care for her, Annie is sent to the county poorhouse to be contracted out to work. Unfortunately, the couple that “hires” her abuses her both physically and mentally and never pays for her work after the first few months.

So, Annie takes her chance to run away and makes her way back home. The needs of her family force her to hone her shooting skills to put food on the table. These are the very skills that lead her to become the famous Annie Oakley, star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. It is while the Wild West Show is on tour in Germany that Annie discovers she and her husband Frank have more power than either of them realize. They meet people who help them hone these new abilities, and in turn they use their newfound power to help clear the areas the show travels of evil monsters that would do the citizens ill.

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley follows Annie’s journey towards Elemental Mastery while she grapples with her past, future, and morals. She makes life-long friends and finds new strength within herself to solve problems she encounters. However, the middle 150 pages or so of the story drags with episodic story points that don’t do much to add to the plot or move any of the characters forward.

For example, throughout the story, Annie revisits the memories of her time with the couple she calls “The Wolves” because of how they behaved and their treatment of her. Even while she is learning to use magic and helping fight monsters such as Krampus she wrestles with the idea of whether it’s morally right to kill. The closer these monsters are to being human the more difficult it is for her to decide what the right thing to do should be.

It is clear that the person she called the He-Wolf is supposed to be the primary antagonist of the story since the book opens with a detailed description of the worst of Annie’s treatment at his hands. However, rather than focusing on Annie for parts of the book and changing perspective to the He-Wolf for other parts as previous books in the series have done, the He-Wolf is barely mentioned as more than a lingering worry for most of the story before suddenly appearing for the climax in the last 30 pages of the book. Previous installments took care to make the reader understand the motives of the antagonist and to really fear those characters, whereas Silver Bullets focused much more on Annie’s internal conflict with her morals and how her magic fit into her beliefs.

This decision made the middle part of the book a bit of a slog to get through. The final conflict in the book was exciting in that we finally got to see Annie use the powers of an Elemental Master, but that conflict was extremely short, predictable, and anticlimactic. Additionally, much of the story was wasted with half-hearted description of mundane days “learning magic” or working in the Wild West Show. As a reader, I never really felt that Annie had earned her magic as other characters in previous books did. I feel that Mercedes Lackey’s decision to revisit the setting of a previous book (it takes place in a similar area as From a High Tower) may have led to the story being less exciting than I anticipated.

Speaking of revisiting a setting, a character from a previous book also shows up in Silver Bullets. Or at least, I think she does. As the description from Goodreads above states, Giselle from the 10th book in the series, From a High Tower, makes an appearance to help Annie learn to control her magic. However, she has a completely different name in this book which is just inexplicable to me. Giselle’s character is described exactly as it is in From a High Tower. She has long blonde braids that she often wears either looped near her ears or wound around her head in a crown. She wears a loden green wool jacket with a split skirt dress and a matching green cap. She too is a trick shooter and sharp shooter like Annie. So, was changing her name a mistake? I’ll be sure the double check this when I get my hands on a published copy of the book, and I’ll update this review should anything change.

Finally, I feel like the setting of this story just wasn’t very interesting. It would have been more interesting to have had Annie learn about her powers while still in America. Quite frankly, I was expecting this book to be set in America after the previous installment, Jolene, took place in Tennessee coal country. It would have been so exciting to see Annie Oakley become an elemental magician with perhaps a Native American teacher (since elementals in America are different from those found in the European settings of many of the other books in the series).

Based on the synopsis and the cover art alone I was excited for this installment in the series. Silver bullets and the wolves in the background of the cover art make it clear that werewolves would be involved, and the idea of Annie Oakley as a wolf-hunter was very intriguing. Ultimately, I just felt let down and disappointed by this story even though I was able to finish reading it fairly quickly. I also wonder if Mercedes Lackey shouldn’t focus on one series at a time because I really enjoyed the first book in her new trilogy focusing on the founding of Valdemar (read my review of Beyond here). Hopefully, the next installment in the Elemental Masters will breathe new life into the series. There are still more fairy tales and legends to explore!

Rating: 4.5 stars

I'm just so relieved Mercedes Lackey has moved on from the Sherlock Holmes-esque moment and back into the realm of fairy tales and legends. Much like the previous book in the series (Jolene), this installment of the Elemental Masters series has a bit of an American in the time of the Wild West/settlements feel, only this book focused on a Wild West show traveling through Europe.

A lot of what I'd consider to be the "action" for the main conflict takes place in the first 5% and then the final 5% of the book, which leaves the other 90% descriptions of Annie Oakley's performances in the Wild West show, life in the show camp, learning magic, and building friendships with Frida and Jack. If you're looking for an action packed adventure, that's really not what this book is. Really OBJECTIVELY I should probably rate it more like 3.5 or 4 stars, but this series has a lot of nostalgia for me and I'm SO GLAD to be past the Sherlock Holmes Nan or Jan or whoever they were moment that my ratings are kind of skewed, haha.

There's a lot of introspection in this one about proper usage of power, and how Annie reconciles her pacifist Quaker upbringing with her new experiences Hunting the monsters of the night. I had a hard time putting this book down, not because it was fast-paced and I needed to know what happened next (because it's really not), but because I loved every moment of the world building and the escape to this traveling Wild West show. This was exactly the sort of soft, gentle escape I needed to take me out of some personal garbage going on right now, and I was loathe to leave Annie's world behind and return to the real one. I really just wanted to pour my own cup of coffee, wrap a blanket around my shoulders, and cozy up by the campfire to listen to some tall tales and yarns.

This is the sixteenth book in the Elemental Masters series, but can be read as a stand-alone. I don't believe any of the characters from previous books are in this one, though the Brotherhood and Hunt Masters as a society as introduced in Blood Red and From A High Tower do play a part in this book as well.

I'm a fan of the Elemental Masters series and I enjoyed this one even if it's not a favorite.
Annie Oakley is an interesting characters and I liked how she became a part of this alternate history/fantasy series.
The plot is compelling and entertaining, the setting interesting and it kept me reading.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Ahoy there me mateys!  This be the 16th book in the Elemental Masters series which retells fairy tales in an alternate magical universe.  I have only read one other book out of the series but from what I understand they can be read as standalones.  I loved Lackey's work as a child and I love the Annie Oakley "myth" so I was excited to read this.

This ended up being okay.  Lackey often seems to write in a way where ye are not sure of the intended audience.  In this book Annie is a married woman who felt as though she was a young child at times in the tone of her thoughts and in the writing style itself.  I expected the character of Annie to be more headstrong, fierce, and independent.  She felt too much like a frail woman who was dependent on her husband. She also spent a lot of time focused on clothes and comfort.  This just wasn't tied to the version I had of Annie Oakley growing up.  Other readers may have more success with the character than I did.

I also thought the plot was kinda boring overall.  So much of this novel was talking about the magic and not really using much.  And what was explained of how the magic worked didn't seem very clear or detailed.  I wouldn't usually expect a lot of explanation in a later book of a series except that Annie was learning about magic for the first time.  Her training seemed nonsensical and haphazard.  Not a lot seemed to happen while waiting for the final showdown that is blatantly going to happen. Even the circus portion of this book had no real descriptions except for how they loaded trains and the tours given of the encampment.

And the final showdown was lame.  I mean seriously bad.  I did think I was going to abandon this book around the midway point.  Nostalgia for the author and Annie Oakley made me finish.  I can't say that I would recommend this book to anyone but I am now more curious about other retellings in this series.  I will have to track some down to satiate me curiosity given how much I remember enjoying the other book of this series that I read.  Arrr!

Thank ye kindly DAW for the eArc!

All I know about Annie Oakley I learned from Annie Get Your Gun. That being said I loved this alternate history tale of an American icon. I loved that Annie and Franks love was closer and he was supportive. I much preferred this version of Annie. She is strong, driven a bit penurious and truly talented. Like any athlete she strives to be the best at whatever she sets her sights on. Magic is a whole nother thing, I enjoyed the pre WWI tour of the Germanic states. The author hits this one out of the park.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

This title is the sixteenth title in the Elemental Masters series and it features the legendary Annie Oakley and her husband Frank as they tour Germany with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. The title is reminiscent of, ‘From a high tower’ but features none of the characters or Elementals from that book.